


Sleeping Sun

by orphan_account



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: First Meetings, Gen, M/M, gandalf's meddling, hobbits have royalty, jabs at Thorin always getting lost
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-07
Packaged: 2018-01-18 12:23:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1428346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thorin stared incredously at the wizard. "You want me to what?" Said wizard sighed his long suffering sigh that he always used when dealing with dwarves, putting his pipe back to his lips to inhale smoke once more. Thorin mused that this was also a coping method of Gandalf, for when he needed to calm down. Maybe he should ask him what blend he used, because frankly, he clearly needed a smoke himself.</p><p>"Like I told you before, you will need the food the hobbits produce. The last winter was hard, you told me so yourself. An arranged marriage would speed things along."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleeping Sun

Thorin stared incredously at the wizard. "You want me to what?" Said wizard sighed his long suffering sigh that he always used when dealing with dwarves, putting his pipe back to his lips to inhale smoke once more. Thorin mused that this was also a coping method of Gandalf, for when he needed to calm down. Maybe he should ask him what blend he used, because frankly, he clearly needed a smoke himself.

"Like I told you before, you will need the food the hobbits produce. The last winter was hard, you told me so yourself. An arranged marriage would speed things along."

The dwarfen king frowned. "First you want me to establish trade routes with the hobbits, and now you want me to marry off one of my nephews to them. I don't believe that both parties would be particularly thrilled at such an union." 

Another sigh from Gandalf. Honestly, the wizard surely understood his train of thought. He was being absolutely reasonable while Gandalf continued being unreasonable. Apart from that, he was a king (without a throne, but they were not talking about that) and kings were not sighed at by someone. Even if that someone was a powerful wizard. Nope, no exceptions were made.

Even when said someone paid for the inn they were currently staying in. Truly, it was a bit unnerving with all the eyes he could physically feel boring into his back, as if the hobbits around the two of them knew he was talking about them in a rude fashion. But every time, every time!, he turned around to risk a glance at the other tables, nobody seemed to even acknowledge them. Still it was nice to stay at a place where him and his dwarfes were the taller beings for once. 

...Had Gandalf said something? Ah, it seemed he did. Thorin stared blankly at him, silently urging the wizard to repeat himself. Another sigh. The dwarf started to regret meeting that blasted wizard more and more. 

"It is a known fact that hobbits do not have royalty, correct?" He asked, impatiently, and Thorin answered with an outdrawn yes. "Wrong!" Came the exclamation and Thorin was this far away from strangling Gandalf's throat. "Listen carefully now, son of Thrain." He continued, as if knowing of the dwarf's intentions. "There is a reason no stranger is allowed to head further into town than the outskirts and markets along the borders. Hobbits do have a king, but he is cherished by all and not often seen out of his smial. It not only functions as a residence for the royal family, the land around it is also used to train the private army."

Thorin's eyebrows had shot higher and higher during the wizard's explanation, and was now openly staring at him, wondering if he was getting back at him for not listening. Gandalf, however, regards Thorin with a serious glower in his eyes, daring the king to say something inadequate, but the dwarf knew better than to piss the wizard off, and merely nods.

Gandalf continued with his explanation. "I know the king and his family personally, and I might be able to convince him to aid us. And don't give me that look. The king and his guards are the ones who keep the Shire safe. He will reject you and your dwarves if you're not behaving yourself." 

How did Gandalf know his thoughts so well? If there was magic involved Thorin didn't know what he might do. Well. He actually didn't know how to defeat a wizard at all. The old man was constantly underestimated anyway. He wondered if dwarves even had a chance against one of the maiar. Probably not. It was Thorin's turn to sigh. He certainly didn't want Gandalf as his enemy.

"And why do you think he would aid us? He has no reason to." It was a good argument, Thorin thought. "Not even my own kin was particularly helpful." He added, because he was still bitter about this. Here, Gandalf smiled slightly beneath his shaggy beard. The dwarf shuddered even thinking about it. No respectable dwarf would ever run around with a beard that was not groomed.

"He owes me a favour." But then, who didn't owe Gandalf a favour? Mahal, the wizard was meddling his way through life. Clever it was of him, aye, but exasperating for everyone around him. Thorin was experiencing it first hand, after all. Surely he was allowed to complain a bit. "If I am right, his son is still not married, and less likely to balk at the idea of meeting dwarfes." And what was that supposed to mean? The dwarf king felt confused. Not the 'I lost my way' kind of confused (not that he ever gets lost, nope, not ever), but the 'What the fuck is the loony wizard talking about now' kind of confused.

Gandalf began to get up and met Thorin's stare head on. "It's gotten late. We should both retire now. I suggest we meet again tomorrow, and I will guide us to the royal smial." The dwarf growled at the obvious jab at his only weakness, but nodded his consent. He was tired of arguing with the wizard. Maybe that was his tactic; arguing and nagging his opponents until they were too worn down to deny him anything.

Much later, after everyone had settled down in their respective rooms, and after Thorin had talked to Balin, asking the older dwarf to accompany him tomorrow, the king lay on his bed, and asked himself possibly for the thousandth time, if it was necessesary to marry his nephew to an unwilling hobbit who had no idea of dwarfen culture. His instincts, damn them, told Thorin to trust the wizard on his choice of action. 

 

The next morning found Thorin along with Balin, Dwalin, who had insisted on coming along lest something happens to the king, and Fili because honestly the boy needed to learn a thing or two about politics(he showed more potential than Thorin ever had, according to Balin)in front of the inn, waiting for the wizard to make an appearance. Gandalf had vanished again the night before, not telling anyone where was going, and Thorin scoffed. A good night's rest indeed.

Thorin himself hadn't slept well, not that he ever does, but he had a feeling that this day wouldn't be ending well. Always expect the worse, King Thror had used to say, and young Thorin had taken these words to heart, never finding anything wrong with them. He's never been surprised by bad news, he mused. But then his life hadn't been exciting enough these last few years to warrant constant surprises.

"Are you sure he told us to meet right here, Thorin?" Balin asked him, somewhat unsure now that they've been waiting for at least 20 minutes. 

"We could trust him so far, could we not?" Fili butted in, and Thorin nodded in agreement, although he was already losing his patience. "I'm sure he'll turn up any minute. He's like Kili in that way." That drew a snort from all four of them. Comparing Kili to a wizard. That thought alone was hilarious. The young dwarf would be delighted if he heard, Gandalf... not so much.

"Kili with magical powers...Middle Earth would be doomed!"

"He'd probably try to attack an orc or something and hit himself with his staff."

"And throw himself off his feet from the force of it."

So it was by the time that Gandalf indeed graced them with his presence, coming up the road from the outskirts of town, the dwarves were in a much merrier mood. (The sight of the wizard leaning on his staff might have sent Fili and Dwalin into hysterics.) Gandalf only raised an eyebrow in response, and Thorin was glad for it.

"I apologize for letting you wait so, but I had matters of importance to see to-"

"Yes, yes, whatever." Dwalin growled impatiently. "Just lead the way, I hate doing nothing when there are things to be done." The wizard looked quiet annoyed that he had been interrupted, but turned around straight away and continued his way up the path and into town, leaving the assembled dwarves to scramble after him.

Thorin still wasn't sure why Gandalf asked him to let the wizard lead the way when they clearly never left the path. The way they were treading was broader, numerous smaller paths leading away from it. Apart from that, the farther they got near the town centre, the more suspicious were the hobbits getting.

They shot Gandalf an even darker glare, which filled the dwarves with immense satisfaction. As much as they were glared at, however, nobody stopped working in order to deter them; sometimes little hobbit children would run onto the path to tug at the wizard's robes and ask him after fireworks of all things. Very strange, Thorin thought, as he eyed the wizard.

"Fireworks?" Fili finally dared to ask, an amused smile lifting the corners of his mouth. Gandalf grumbled under his breath, but it asnwered instead a little girl, head barely reaching the prince's hip.

"Fireworks soooo big!" She exclaimed, thin arms spread out as widely as her anatomy allowed, and the dwarves plus wizard chuckled. His nephew crouched down in front of her, spreading his arms in a bow. "Soooo big?" He asked then, and the girl giggled, a high, shrill sound. "Bigger!" She whooped, and began to run around in a circle before them.

"Sadie! Are you terrorizing people again?" A new voice rang out, and as one everyone turned around to see another hobbit, clad in traveling clothes made out of leather, coming up at the road at a brisk pace. A breeze picked up, ruffling through the stranger's curly hair and causing his cape to billow out, revealing a small blade strapped to his hip.

A gasp was heard and then a "Mister Bilbo!" and little Sadie,apparently, shot by them in a fast blur, throwing herself at the older male, who quickly crouched down and let her throw her thin arms around his neck, hoisting her up on his hip before she could pull him down.

"Mister Bilbo! Mister Bilbo! Gandalf is here again! Do you think he makes more fireworks?" Thorin heard the hobbit chuckle as he neared them. "I'm afraid Gandalf is here for business. Maybe he'll come by later this year?" The wizard shrugged.

"Make it next year, dear Bilbo." Mister Bilbo simply nodded, focusing back on the girl in his arms. Then, he looked around, turning once and frowned. "Where is your sister, Sadie? I've never seen you two seperated." 

"She's still in bed. Mama said Lily is tired." Sadie frowned, and it looked awfully cute. Not that Thorin would ever say something like that out loud. Bilbo's frown deepened, and he still looked lovely. Wait, what? That he definetly wouldn't say out loud. "Tell your mother I'll send Missus Gamgee by later, yes?"

Little Sadie nodded, then wriggled, clearly wanting to be let down. "Have you seen Nick?" 

"By the Party Tree I believe I've seen him last." The girl nodded, then dashed off, waving at them . The hobbit stared after her until she couldn't be seen anymore, then focused on the dwarves for the first time. Dark blue eyes met paler ones and Thorin felt a shudder running down his spine.

"Please excuse my lack of manners." He finally said, bowing a bit. "Bilbo Baggins, at your service." Thorin took a step forward, eyes never leaving the hobbit's features in front of him, and introduced himself. "Thorin Oakenshield, at your service. These are Fili, my nephew and heir, Balin, my advisor, and Dwalin, my captain of the guard." The hobbit nodded at them.

Gandalf cleared his throat, easily gaining their attention. "In my letter, I asked for the king, and not the prince. Where is he?" Master Baggins raised an eyebrow. "The king is standing right in front of you." The wizard's eyes widened. "I came as soon as I could since your wording sounded urgent."

"What happened to your father? He would never abdicate out of his own volution." The hobbit's eyes darkened, and smiled bitterly. "No, he wouldn't. When was the last time you visited the Shire, Gandalf?"

"Some five years ago, if I remember correctly. Bilbo, my dear boy, what happened?" Master Baggins heaved a sigh, and his whole posture crumbled for a moment. "I'll tell you later, yes? It's time we continue on our way, I think." Gandalf clearly didn't want to leave it at that, but as he saw the open, beseeching look on the hobbit's face, he nodded and gestured him to lead the way.

They stopped several times on their way, mostly because seemingly everyone wanted to talk to their king. Bilbo talked to each of them for a few moments, before politely excusing himself. What truly caught the dwarves off guard was the amount of females the hobbit couldn't seem to shake off him. They trailed after him, asking question after question, and the male grew visibly more uncomfortable the longer the fiasco went on.

His next actions Thorin blamed on him being impatient, and the restless shifting of his companions. It was a wonder Dwalin hadn't already made his discontentment known through various loud outbursts. So the dwarf king walked up next to Bilbo, grabbed his wrist, pulled him along and said: "Sorry to interrupt, but your king is needed elsewhere." Another pull, and Bilbo stumbled after him, apologizing profusely.

"Tell me, Master Baggins, where do we need to go next?" The hobbit snickered. "Just follow the path, Master Dwarf." Thorin felt heat rising in his cheeks, and simply walked faster, pulling the unresisting hobbit along. Chancing a glance backwards, Thorin saw the abandoned hobbits furiously whispering to each other, and to his dismay, his dwarfes and the wizard were looking far too amused at their display.

"Take my hand." Bilbo whispered, looking up at him through the curls falling into his eyes, and Thorin had to swollow hard. "What?" He managed to rasp out, but by then, the hobbit had already freed himself from dwarf's grip, and instead laced their fingers together. The whispering behind them froze, only to rise in volume, along with the loud guffaws from none other than Fili. 

"Why did you do that?" Thorin hissed, frowning down at the hobbit, who wore a content expression on his face. "Just play along, Mister Oakenshield. They won't bother us anymore." The dwarf didn't have it in him to complain about it, the hand in his felt right, after all, so Thorin decided to question this strange hobbit later.

**Author's Note:**

> Title name taken from Coldplay's song "Sleeping Sun"


End file.
